Comparing DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) & Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY) and Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Dividends

DENTSPLY SIRONA pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Becton, Dickinson and Company pays an annual dividend of $4.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. DENTSPLY SIRONA pays out -14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Becton, Dickinson and Company pays out 79.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. DENTSPLY SIRONA has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Becton, Dickinson and Company has raised its dividend for 53 consecutive years. DENTSPLY SIRONA is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares DENTSPLY SIRONA and Becton, Dickinson and Company”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DENTSPLY SIRONA	$3.79 billion	0.72	-$910.00 million	($4.54)	-3.01
Becton, Dickinson and Company	$20.18 billion	2.45	$1.71 billion	$5.24	32.92

Becton, Dickinson and Company has higher revenue and earnings than DENTSPLY SIRONA. DENTSPLY SIRONA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Becton, Dickinson and Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares DENTSPLY SIRONA and Becton, Dickinson and Company’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DENTSPLY SIRONA	-24.42%	14.31%	5.37%
Becton, Dickinson and Company	7.28%	15.99%	7.36%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.7% of DENTSPLY SIRONA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.0% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of DENTSPLY SIRONA shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Becton, Dickinson and Company shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

DENTSPLY SIRONA has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Becton, Dickinson and Company has a beta of 0.2, suggesting that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for DENTSPLY SIRONA and Becton, Dickinson and Company, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DENTSPLY SIRONA	0	10	2	0	2.17
Becton, Dickinson and Company	0	7	4	0	2.36

DENTSPLY SIRONA presently has a consensus price target of $19.60, indicating a potential upside of 43.27%. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a consensus price target of $212.8750, indicating a potential upside of 23.41%. Given DENTSPLY SIRONA’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe DENTSPLY SIRONA is more favorable than Becton, Dickinson and Company.

Summary

Becton, Dickinson and Company beats DENTSPLY SIRONA on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DENTSPLY SIRONA

DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. manufactures and sells various dental products and technologies worldwide. It operates in four segments: Connected Technology Solutions, Essential Dental Solutions, Orthodontic and Implant Solutions, and Wellspect Healthcare. The company offers dental equipment comprising imaging equipment, motorized dental handpieces, treatment centers, other instruments, amalgamators, mixing machines, and porcelain furnaces; and dental CAD/CAM technologies to support dental restorations, such as intraoral scanners, 3-D printers, mills, other software and services, and a full-chairside economical restoration of esthetic ceramic dentistry, as well as DS Core, its cloud-based platform. It also provides endodontic products consisting of motorized endodontic handpieces, files, sealers, irrigation needles, and other tools that support root canal procedures; restorative products, including dental ceramics, crowns, and veneers; and preventative products, such as curing light systems, dental diagnostic systems, and ultrasonic scalers and polishers, as well as dental anesthetics, prophylaxis paste, dental sealants, and impression materials. In addition, the company offers SureSmile and Byte aligner solutions; VPro/HyperByte, a high-frequency vibration technology device; SureSmile Simulator, which creates a 3D visualization of a patient's outcome; and Byte Plus for treatment planning. Further, it provides dental implants, digital dentures, crown and bridge porcelain products, bone regenerative and restorative solutions, treatment planning software, and educational programs; dental prosthetics; urology catheters; and other health-related consumables. The company serves professional dental and consumable medical device markets through third-party distributors. The company was formerly known as DENTSPLY International Inc. and changed its name to DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. in February 2016. DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. was founded in 1877 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional. The BD Medical segment provides peripheral intravenous (IV) and advanced peripheral catheters, central lines, acute dialysis catheters, vascular access technology, vascular care and preparation products, needle-free IV connectors and extensions sets, closed-system drug transfer devices, hazardous drug detections, hypodermic syringes and needles, anesthesia needles and trays, enteral syringes, and sharps disposal systems; IV medication safety and infusion therapy delivery systems, medication compounding workflow systems, automated medication dispensing and supply management systems, and medication inventory optimization and tracking systems; and prefillable drug delivery systems. The BD Life Sciences segment offers specimen and blood collection products; automated blood and tuberculosis culturing, molecular testing, microorganism identification and drug susceptibility, and liquid-based cytology systems, as well as rapid diagnostic assays, microbiology laboratory automation products, and plated media products; and fluorescence-activated cell sorters and analyzers, antibodies and kits, reagent systems, and solutions for single-cell gene expression analysis, as well as clinical oncology, immunological, and transplantation diagnostic/monitoring reagents and analyzers. The BD Interventional segment provides hernia and soft tissue repair, biological and bioresorbable grafts, biosurgery, and other surgical products; surgical infection prevention; peripheral intervention products; and urology and critical care products. The company was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.